Precipitated silica can be prepared by adding an acidulating agent to an alkali metal silicate to precipitate amorphous silica. The resulting precipitate is usually filtered away from the reaction medium and subsequently washed and dried. Typically, the dried silica is then mechanically comminuted in order to provide a suitable particle size and size distribution. On an industrial scale, silica can be prepared by a step-wise batch process that incorporates the aforementioned steps. The equipment needed for such a process can be capital intensive and often leads to inefficiency in the process, particularly when idle time exists when reactants are not being consumed. While various other silica production processes exist, many of these processes are difficult to control and scale-up, and many still require extensive processing steps after the silica has been prepared.
A need therefore exists for improved silica production processes that address the aforementioned shortcomings in traditional silica production processes. This need and other needs are satisfied by the present invention.